After half a century of campaigning for Taiwanese independence, the names of overseas Taiwanese political activists have made it into the history books, and yet for the activists themselves history consists of an assemblage of memorable stories and experiences.
For Ng Chiau-tong (
Despite the "White Terror" tactics of the government at the time, Ng and Yang played important roles in Japan and the US respectively during the formative years of the overseas Taiwanese independence movement between 1950 and 1990.
"I started to campaign for independence in 1960 as a graduate student in Japan, and I've been working for Taiwan's independence for 43 years now," said Ng, former chairman of the Taiwan Independence Party (建國黨) and currently chairman of the group World Formosans for Independence.
"In 1968 a Taiwanese independence activist, Liu Wen-ching (
"At the time, several of us Taiwanese independence activists got together to decide what to do. We called around for information on Liu, but no one was talking. In the end we asked a Japanese parliamentarian to query the authorities about Liu. It was not until after 8pm that we finally found out that Liu had been taken to a detention center and would be illegally deported back to Taiwan on a 9am flight the next morning," Ng said.
Ng and a few other well-known political activists who were in Japan at the time, including presidential national policy advisor Alice King (金美齡), called an emergency meeting to decide on a plan of action. They decided that they would split up into two groups. The first group would intercept the Japanese police on the highway on the way to the airport. The second group would wait at the airport in case the first group did not succeed in halting the deportation.
"We knew that Liu's life would be at risk if he returned to Taiwan, so we had to find a way to prevent his deportation," Ng said.
The meeting to decide on a plan of action did not conclude until 2am. Ng was placed into the second group and expected to show up at the airport at 6 am.
"I still had to finish my PhD thesis, which was due the next day. I knew that I would probably be taken to the Japanese detention center and thus be unable to complete the thesis. So, I rushed back home and completed my thesis in the four hours I had before I was due at the airport," Ng said.
"The only moment that I felt any sadness was right before I left for the airport. I was 36 years old with three sons, and as I turned to go, I saw my wife and children sleeping in bed together. The scene gripped me," Ng said.
The showdown at the airport did not end favorably for Ng. After losing a violent clash, the Japanese police sent him and his compatriots to jail and Liu was deported.
"I remember falling on top of Liu during the fight and looking him straight in the face. I gestured that he should commit suicide by biting off his tongue because his life would be over if he were sent back to Taiwan," Ng said.
"In the end, a friend of mine submitted my thesis for me while I was in jail. So I basically completed my PhD in a jail cell," Ng said.
King recalls that when she joined the independence movement thirty-five years ago, Ng had not been receptive.
"He said, `Anyone who joins this movement without having been recruited is suspect' and `What can a girl contribute?' I showed him, though, and he later had to admit that I did have something to contribute," King said.
Yang also reflected on the circumstances that had given birth to the overseas independence movement. "When I was getting on a Greyhound bus in the US, and no one stopped me to check for identification, I thought to myself: `This is freedom,'" Yang said.
"Americans say you don't know what freedom is until you lose it. Well, coming from a country with no freedom, I wanted to make sure that all Taiwanese people had a chance to experience the kind of freedom I had experienced in the US. That's why I started writing in the campus newspaper and other publications," Yang said.
However, despite being able to freely board a bus, Yang was unable to escape the FBI.
"I later found out that the FBI had begun following me after the establishment of the World United Formosans for Independence (WUFI) in 1970, when Trong Chai (蔡同榮) was elected the first chairman of the organization. When Chai called me from New York in June of 1970, the FBI associated me with the independence movement and started investigating me," Yang said.
Between 1960 and 1970 the US government and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) had a deal that the FBI would give the KMT names of Taiwanese independence activists in the US in exchange for the names of Chinese communists, Yang said. The FBI interrogated him a total of 24 times between 1970 and 1984.
"I gradually learned how to deal with the FBI interrogations and held training sessions to help other Taiwanese understand their rights. I knew that the FBI had been unable to penetrate the United Formosans in America for Independence (UFAI) and that they didn't know about my role in the organization," he said.
At UFAI meetings everyone was assigned a number so that mem-bers could remain anonymous for fear of being blacklisted by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
"You didn't ask people where they came from. We called people by their numbers," Yang said.
However, despite a history consisting of an equal share of challenging the government and hiding from authority, the overseas independence movement established an organizational foundation for the future.
"In the US, we are not involved as legislators or politicians in Taiwan and are thus in a better position to gauge Taiwan's main shortcomings. Legislators have to prioritize their own election to office first, and subsequently their political party. The needs of the country come last. However, the priorities of overseas Taiwanese are the exact opposite. We consider whether a decision is good for the country first," said Yang, who is now the chief WUFI historian in the US.
"What we need to do to complete the path to independence now is to hold a referendum and rewrite the constitution. The goals of the independence movement are still ahead of us, but we can obtain them through nonviolent means. Revolution does not have to be a revolt anymore," Ng said.
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